TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE

The word ‘jihad’ has nowhere been used in the Quran to mean war in the sense of launching an offensive. It is used rather to mean ‘struggle’. Since time immemorial, military commanders have been accorded positions of great eminence in the annals of history. It is a universal phenomenon that the hero is idolized even in times of peace and becomes a model for the people. The collection of biographies in Plutarch’s Lives is one such example. Plutarch (c. CE 46-119) immortalized the Greek and Roman warriors through celebration and romanticization of their military strength and conquests in his work. It is this placing of heroism in the militaristic context which has been the greatest underlying factor in the undue stress laid on war in the latter phase of Islamic history. With the automatic accord in Muslim society of a place of honour and importance to the heroes of the battlefield, annalists’ subsequent compilations of Islamic history have tended to read like an uninterrupted series of military expeditions and conquests. These early chronicles having set the precedent, subsequent writings on Islamic history followed the same pattern of emphasis on militarism. The Prophet’s biographies were called ‘maghazi’, that is ‘The Battles Fought by the Prophet,’ yet the Prophet of Islam in fact did battle only three times in his entire life, and the period of his involvement in these battles did not total more than one and half days. He fought, let it be said, in self-defence, when hemmed in by aggressors, and he simply had no option. But historians—flying in the face of fact—have converted his whole life into one of confrontation and war. We must keep in mind that Prophet Muhammad was born at a time when an atmosphere of militancy prevailed in Arab society, nay in the entire world wherever man inhabited. Man, as yet, knew no other method to resolve differences. It was quite customary to indulge in armed conflict for differences over land, water, cattle, creed, and many other trivial or profound reasons. There being, in their view, no other path to justice. But the Prophet always opted for the avoidance of conflict. In fact, he is the first historical figure to employ peaceful methods to resolve differences. For instance, in the Battle of the Trench (CE 627), the Prophet advised his Companions to dig a trench between them and their adversaries, thus preventing a head-on clash. Another well-known instance of the Prophet’s dislike for hostilities is the Hudaibiya Peace Treaty, which made more concessions to the opponents than to his own people. In the case of the conquest of